It is a Secret known but to a few, yet of no small use in the Conduct of Life, that when you fall into a Man’s Conversation, the first thing you should consider is, whether he has a greater Inclination to hear you, or that you should hear him.

Richard Steele (1672-1729) Anglo-Irish writer, journalist, playwright, politician

Essay (1711-04-26), The Spectator, No. 49
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